Donatella Versace Is Back With a New Brand
Photo: Yulia Gorbachenko
Here’s a scoop to get tutto il mondo talking at Milan Fashion Week: Donatella Versace is back in the creative driver’s seat. Together with Los Angeles’s Revolve Group Inc., Versace is announcing a new joint venture encompassing beauty and fashion — “an independent venture reflecting Donatella’s personal creative vision,” the press release clarifies, “designed around how a new generation discovers style, experiences culture, shops, shares, and connects.”
Amid a brand repositioning orchestrated by Versace’s then-owner Capri Holdings in March 2025, Versace stepped down as chief creative officer of Versace, a position she held for nearly 30 years after the death of her brother in 1997. She was subsequently appointed Versace’s chief brand ambassador. In the interim, Versace was acquired by Prada Group last December, and the designer who stepped into her shoes, Dario Vitale, was replaced after one season by Pieter Mulier.
At 71, Versace’s appeal very much crosses generations. With 12.2 million followers, she’s one of the most popular designers on Instagram, and her persona resonates offline as well. Her cameo in The Devil Wears Prada 2 was a callback to the 2001 original, when Miranda Priestly urges a stranded Andy Sachs to “call Donatella. Get her jet.” IRL, a string of A-listers have worn her vintage designs on the red carpet this year, from Zendaya on the Spider-Man: Brand New Day circuit in a webby 2016 Atelier Versace dress, to Miley Cyrus in 2015 Atelier Versace at her Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, to Jennifer Lopez in 2004 Atelier Versace at the Office Romance premiere. And who was the woman behind the plunging 1999 Versace number Lopez wore to the Grammys, celebrated as the dress that launched Google Image Search? Donatella, of course.
The new deal with the California-based fashion and lifestyle retailer Revolve will tap into that renown. “Revolve understands something I believe deeply: culture comes from connection,” Versace says. “Together, we want to create that connection with a new voice, a new look, and a new energy.”
Revolve Group was founded by Michael Mente and Mike Karanikolas in 2003 and has grown its online offering to encompass 1,600 brands across two platforms, Revolve, which is dedicated to established labels, and Fwrd, which showcases emerging ones. The company reported $1.23 billion in total revenue in 2025 and made a splash by announcing a joint venture with pop star Cardi B, which marked its entry into the beauty category, and another with influencer Sofia Richie Grainge. “Donatella is one of the defining creative voices of our time. This partnership gives that vision an entirely new platform and the freedom to build something from the ground up,” Mente, co-founder and co-CEO, notes. Raissa Gerona, president of brand and partnerships, seconds the notion “Donatella has an extraordinary instinct for what the next generation wants and an unmatched ability to connect fashion with culture. That is what makes this partnership so exciting.” “By combining Donatella’s creative authority with Revolve’s technology, infrastructure and global reach, we have an opportunity to create something genuinely distinctive — and build it for the long term,” concludes Karanikolas, co-founder and co-CEO, in the release.
The brand will launch across the United States, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East. The first products are expected to be introduced in 2027 together with a name reveal. The scope and ambition of the project are significant and will include entertainment beyond the runway. Says Versace: “I believe creativity should be fearless, inclusive, and alive in the world. I have always been inspired by the next generation, in music, film, art and, of course, fashion. This partnership gives me the freedom to speak to that generation in a completely new and personal way, through beauty and fashion.”
This article was originally published on Vogue Business.